David Hare, who has been writing screenplays for a long
time, has polished off a corker of a spy story, called Page Eight. And it is
timely, in the light of recent revelations that the American spooks at the NSA
have been eavesdropping on the British spooks.
The movie, which was directed as well as written by Hare, benefits from
a first-class cast, headed by Bill Nighy, who plays MI-5 analyst Johnny
Worricker with his usual laconic persona – a perfect fit for this character. Also in the cast are Michael Gambon, who
plays MI-5’s Director General and Worricker’s mentor, and Ralph Fiennes, who
plays the British Prime Minister. It will not spoil things if I tell you that
the plot pivots on whether the PM knew about the Americans’ rendition of
prisoners to countries known to tolerate torture.
Most of the male characters, especially Worricker and his
boss, are decent human beings, while most of the baddies are female –
particularly Judy Davis, who is terrific
as Jill Tankard, a colleague of Worricker’s at MI-5. The dialog is crisp, a Hare staple, and the
production values are good. In fact, one wonders why more wasn’t made of the
film when it was released in 2011. Maybe Nighy wasn’t big enough a star to
warrant major promotion; if Johnny Depp or George Clooney had played the lead
there might have been more – but it wouldn’t have been nearly as good a movie.
As mentioned, there are several references to the sharing or
nonsharing of intelligence between the American and British intelligence
agencies, and Hare makes no bones about the realities of the situation.
Intelligence people lie – that’s what they do, even to each other – and to
think otherwise if plain foolish. If
Barack Obama summons the head of the CIA or NSA and asks him a straight
question, will he get a truthful answer? Maybe, but one would be foolish to bet
one’s life on it. The same is true the world over.
Sharing top billing with Nighy, for reasons unknown to me,
is Rachel Weisz, who plays Nancy Pierpan, a neighbor of Worricker’s. She is the
nearest thing to a romantic element the film offers, and her character adds
little to the plot. In fact, the pace
quickens in the scenes at the offices of MI-5 and reaches a crescendo in the
scene between Worricker and the Prime Minister.
Good spy dramas don’t need shootings or stabbings to keep
you on the edge of your seat. What they need is believable characters who talk
intelligently about subjects that
matter. It helps if the central
character is sympathetic and perceived to be in mortal danger. Page
Eight delivers on all counts.
